‘Hello Kitty’ movie finds directors

Washington [US], March 3 (ANI): The fans of the much loved fictional character ‘Hello Kitty’ now have a reason to rejoice as animation veterans Jennifer Coyle and Leo Matsuda will helm the New Line feature. It has been planned as an animated/live-action hybrid film.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lindsey Beer (Chaos Walking) of Known Universe penned the screenplay. Known Universe will also executive produce the film.
Beau Flynn and his FlynnPictureCo. will produce the film, which marks the only time Sanrio has granted film rights to ‘Hello Kitty’ and its other popular characters – including Gudetama, My Melody and Little Twin Stars, among others – to a major film studio.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, Chanel Bowling will oversee the project for FlynnPictureCo. Richard Brener, Celia Khong and Paulina Sussman will oversee the production for New Line.
Coyle, who is producing and directing the project, has credits on massively popular animated series like HBO Max’s ‘Harley Quinn’ and Fox’s ‘Bob’s Burgers’.
Matsuda has worked on Disney titles ‘Big Hero 6’, ‘Zootopia’, and ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’, as well as ‘Abominable’ for Dreamworks Animation. He made his directorial debut the short ‘Inner Workings,’ which premiered before Disney’s ‘Moana’ and was shortlisted for the 2017 Oscars. (ANI)